On Sep 15, 2005 at 6:34 AM, Kitchen Parade (guest) said...
Subject: Thank you!
Thank you for the oven conversions! If you'd tackle the similar kitchen conversions - esp grams/cups which I KNOW aren't technically convertible but yet need to be for cooking practices - it'd be much appreciated. I've searched all over for an easy reference with no luck. Alanna

this article makes me laugh. i was raised that "the closest a man can get to being god was an engineer." (a pe or strong mechanical backgroud, and some civil was encouraged. certainly none of the ee types from our family.

i'll never forget what my mother told my dad after he had recalibrated the oven knob with a marker and masking tape. he was trying to tell her how she'd cook so much better now that is was corrected (it was 25 degrees off @350 f) from the traceable pryrometer he had brought home. he cooked that week. which led to the "if you could teach a monkey to read he could cook anything the finest chef could" arguement. thanks for the memory. b

The Gas Mark system is a feedback loop. The knob sets the cut of point for the gas supply in a similar way to a steam engine governor. As the oven reaches temperature the gas supply is reduced to a level that no longer maintains the set temperature, the fall in temperature re-opens the valve.

It's a mechanical system, which is why ovens vary between individuals but are consistant in their own responses.

We are at present residing in Kuwait and tried to learn to cook some of the regional dishes but when we found cookbooks that had interesting items all the temperatures used were referred to vaguely as in-low heat, medium heat etc. hard to decide what this translated to -Thanks for the reference chart

Can someone explain why some recipes specify placing food in the middle of the oven, and others at the top, even if you're only cooking one thing?

Presumably it can't just be that the top is hotter, or one would place things there by default for energy efficiency. Possibilities that spring to mind include:
* Radiant heat from the top inside surface of the oven can be used to brown the food
* It's something about airflow and humidity

Possibilities that spring to mind include:
* Radiant heat from the top inside surface of the oven can be used to brown the food
* It's something about airflow and humidity

You've got it. Mainly it's due to the radiant heat from the top of the oven than heats food from above faster than below. Most recipes ask you to place the food in the middle so heating from radiation is similar from above and below.

If you do have an oven thermometer you trust;Set the oven to a moderate heat like 350°F,Pull the knob off the stove front and you should find a slotted piece of metal behind it that has two like size 00 Philips screws. Loosen and turn the slotted piece so that when you put the knob back on, it reads what the thermometer says. Tighten the screws back.

Its been a long time since I did this so maybe the new electronic controls will be different but I'll bet those have instructions online.